Viewpoint – Community solar lights up homes and businesses in Rio’s favelas – A greener life, a greener world

Film and words by Kashfi Halford

A grassroots solar project in two low-income Brazilian neighbourhoods is reducing energy poverty while training locals to lead the change.

The steep hills of Babilônia and Chapéu Mangueira rise behind the golden curve of Leme Beach, one of Rio de Janeiro’s most iconic shorelines. The two informal favela settlements clinging to the slopes are home to thousands of residents living with limited infrastructure and unreliable public services.

Rio’s favelas: The struggle for electricity access

For many families here, access to electricity is a daily struggle. A 2022 study found 43.5% of households in Rio’s favelas do not have a meter, with many relying on clandestine connections to the grid. Among those formally connected to the grid, over 30% face energy poverty, with monthly bills exceeding 10% of their income. In Babilônia and Chapéu Mangueira, residents say electricity bills can swallow up nearly half of a minimum wage salary.

Yet Brazil has abundant sources of renewable energy, and although access to the power they generate is uneven, these two communities are proving such problems can be solved by tapping into the potential of solar. In 2021, the Rio-based NGO Revolusolar launched the Percília and Lúcio Renewable Energy Cooperative: a grassroots, community-run initiative to bring the benefits of solar energy to residents across Babilônia and Chapéu Mangueira.

Rio’s favelas: How the community is driving climate action

I first learned about the project while researching community-driven climate action. I wanted to make a film that captured how people who organise and take initiative can drive powerful, collective change.

While filming in early February – the height of summer in the southern hemisphere – temperatures soared above 40 °C, making everything more challenging. But the warm welcome I received made the sweaty treks up and down the steep favela alleys more than worthwhile.

I met people like Dinei Medina, president of the cooperative, who welcomed me into his hilltop home overlooking the community and beach. He described how energy poverty shapes daily life, from food that spoils without refrigeration to sleepless nights in stifling heat, leaving children exhausted and unable to focus at school.

I also spent time with Bibiana Angel Gonzalez, who runs Estrelas da Babilônia, a local guesthouse that has been powered by solar energy since 2016, thanks to a pilot installation by Revolusolar.

With lower electricity costs, she has been able to gradually invest in improvements such as buying furniture, upgrading equipment and making the space more comfortable for guests, which has helped the business to grow.

Community solar in Rio’s favelas: Growing momentum despite challenges

But the cooperative still faces significant challenges. The introduction of higher import duties on solar panels in late 2024 has raised costs, limiting potential future expansion. Reliance on the local utility company also remains a frustration.

Revolusolar employs a shared generation model, where energy from the cooperative’s solar installations is fed into the grid and converted into credits to lower members’ bills. Yet delays by the utility company in completing grid connections and failures to register credits on bills continue to hold the project back.

Still, the cooperative continues to grow, expanding from 35 households in 2021 to four businesses, two schools and more than 60 families today. The model is now being replicated in the Terra Preta Indigenous community in Manaus municipality, in the Amazon region, as well as in housing estates in São Paulo.